Like You
by Nighttyger
Summary: Silver has been questioning his place in Team Rocket, and a certain person on the other side isn't exactly helping. SoulSilver, AU. Strong swears, violence.
1. Stranger

-Stranger-

A teenager with crimson hair walked down the almost-deserted side streets of Goldenrod City. He kept his head down, his arms crossed. His bangs shaded his distinctive eyes, though everybody knew who he was even without seeing them.

Silver Acerbi. The son of Giovanni, the man who so effortlessly took over the Kanjoh continent two years ago. Now, Team Rocket was not the name of a hunted criminal organization, but of powerful tyrants who roamed without fear and did whatever they pleased.  
The fear and hate people felt for them remained.

Silver didn't do much. He roamed Goldenrod City, where Team Rocket had set up their new headquarters, and attended the occasional executive meeting. He was supposed to take over, after all. Being at the top like he was, nobody ever told him to go investigate rumored "safehouses" or give demonstrations at the training facilities.  
So he did nothing. He didn't need to.

He hated it.

Before the takeover, at least he could do something. Train. Travel. The only thing left now was the multitudes of mindless grunts and fearful masses.

Silver palmed one of his Pokéballs and released his Weavile, who immediately climbed onto his shoulder, keeping a keen lookout for enemies - or loose valuables.  
Silver didn't really get the detachment that grunts were required to have. It was obvious enough to him that ignoring or mistreating a Pokémon didn't help its performance. It generally weakened it, in fact. Silver wouldn't have said he was friends with his Pokémon, but he did at least give them the respect they deserved.  
He hadn't always been like that. Two years ago he was just as ignorant. But when he had seen the fights between Team Rocket and some of its biggest threats, he had seen the difference with his own silver eyes. Ever since then, he had quietly respected his partners, all too aware that if he went the slightest bit too far with his praise, the consequences would hurt. It was probably a bad idea to have Weavile out, really.

His Pokégear beeped, alerting him of a new message. Another meeting. Another gathering of Rocket's greatest minds to discuss how to keep their lofty positions and suppress the populace.

Silver briefly closed his eyes before returning Weavile and starting towards headquarters.

* * *

"We've had a decrease in recruits lately. We need more grunts for our posts in the other regions."  
Silver lounged in a large black leather chair, eyeing the Murkrow outside the window boredly. It was the same old, same old - we need more grunts, we need more supplies, there's some rebellion here - and he didn't feel the need to bother himself with it.  
"You." Silver ignored it. "Kid, you're supposed to be the boss' heir." That got Silver's attention well enough. "Don't you have any ideas?" asked the annoyed Admin. Silver looked up. He did, in fact, have an idea, but he knew the Admins wouldn't like it. He shrugged.  
"You've got somethin', don't you!? Spit it out!"  
Silver sighed, then said, "You could offer more food rations to the grunts. They'd come running for that."  
"You think those fuckers _deserve _that!? You useless brat!"  
"You asked." Silver rolled his eyes. _Do they think I have to tell them what they want to hear?  
_"...I guess we'll just have to threaten them."  
"And then draft 'em if they refuse!" an excited red-haired woman yelled.  
"Why don't you just draft them in the first place if you're that desperate for soldiers?" pointed out Silver. The first grunt, the one that had spoken to him, the one with stubble and mean, dark eyes, glared at him, but another Admin, this one with purple hair, nodded and said, "The kid has a point."  
"Yes, he does," purred a voice that everyone immediately looked at. Executive Ariana. "I'm honestly ashamed that the best minds of Team Rocket couldn't come up with that. I mean, a mere child had to tell you what to do?" Silver decided not to comment on the fact that she hadn't said anything herself, or that he was certainly not a child. Ariana looked to Giovanni. "With your permission, of course, Giovanni, the other Executives and I will set up a series of drafts. I think it would be best if we simply went to the homes of those to be drafted; all the more leverage to have, no?" A sickly-sweet smile spread itself on her face.  
Silver knew he would agree before he even said so. In addition to the fact that it was, in fact, a good idea, he knew that even though Archer was technically second-in-command, Ariana had more power over his father.  
"Very well. Make sure to confirm the particulars with me beforehand."  
Nothing following that particularly interested Silver, and he resumed staring out the window for the rest of the meeting.

As he left the meeting room, Silver was stopped by Ariana's hand on his shoulder. He turned, shaking it off in the process. He saw brief smile play across her lips before she spoke.  
"That really was a good idea, dear. Keep up like that, and I'm sure you'll be just the type of leader we need." With that, she walked past him, brushing her hand against him once again. Silver sighed. With behavior like that, it was a wonder more people didn't question their relationship. Taking that with the standout red hair, it was fairly obvious to Silver that she was his mother - not that she had raised him. That would have kept her from her duties. No, Grace had done that, before she died.  
"Just standing here?"  
His father's deep voice cut through his thoughts. Silver looked up - even with his height, his father was still taller.  
"Is there something wrong with thinking?"  
"Not for you, though I would prefer you not clog the hall."  
"I was just leaving." Silver turned and walked the path to his room before his father could start on him about training or being more attentive during those meetings - "they're your future, after all". Did he even want that future? It felt suffocating to him.

* * *

The next day, Silver was walking along, much like the day before, when he heard a panicked voice in the next street.

"Get away from me!"  
Silver looked around the corner of the wall to see a grunt pinning down a girl with brown hair. Silver narrowed his eyes. It disgusted him when those imbeciles did shit like that.  
He released his Alakazam and said, gritting his teeth, "Knock that son of a bitch out, please." Alakazam, not needing to ask who or where his target was due to his telekinesis, sent a powerful blast of psionics into the grunt's mind, instantly knocking him out and causing him to collapse on the girl. As he recalled Alakazam, Silver watched the girl, who quickly recovered, rolling the unconscious grunt off of her and standing up before delivering a powerful kick to his side. Silver thought he heard the crack of breaking ribs, but made no move to stop the girl from doling out her punishment - anyone who would fall that low deserved it. As she did so, he idly observed her. Her hair was in two pigtails, and she wore a pair of ripped jeans and a red-and-white shirt.  
Suddenly, the girl turned, and her chestnut eyes, the same color as her hair, fell on Silver before he could move. Time seemed to freeze for a second before Silver bolted, ignoring the shouted "Wait!"  
_  
Why did I do that? _Silver wondered later as he laid on his bed. _That had nothing to do with me. Why didn't you just walk past? Now that girl's seen you, and who knows what that could do, _he mentally berated himself. _At least the grunt didn't see me. _Yet, he found he simply didn't care about the results of his actions, and the lecture was only half-hearted. Silver found himself reflecting on the contradiction between himself and the organization he was born into. When Team Rocket encouraged a lack of morals, he attempted to at least somewhat uphold them. When the Executives preferred heavy-handed methods, he thought of gentler, subtler ones, with less collateral and more efficiency. When indifference was said to be the way to go, he became involved.  
It was unknown to him why or how he should be like this; after a certain point he had given up on figuring it out. It was annoying, confusing, and certainly not beneficial, yet it was such a part of him that he could never imagine throwing it away and allowing himself to be absorbed into the rancid hive mind that he inhabited.  
Silver sighed and rolled onto his side. _I'll just stay in for a few days. That girl's just another headache I don't need.  
_

* * *

Lyra Soul couldn't get the boy out of her mind.  
She was certain he was the one who had saved her, if for no other reason than it being the only reasonable explanation. That, and his reaction to being seen. She sat in her room, hugging her knees - her mother had forced her to stay in when she heard what had happened.  
His hair was red, his clothes were black, and his eyes - those eyes that had widened with panic when she met them - were silver.  
Silver.  
Everybody knew there was one person who looked like that. Giovanni's son. But there was no way it could be him... _But no one else looks like him, _her mind argued. _But he's freaking Giovanni's son! _But... but... but... She argued back and forth with herself, all of her sentences seeming to begin with the same, mocking word.  
Even if it was him, then why... why would he help her? The question looped in her brain, torturing her with its seeming unanswerablility.

* * *

Silver exited the battling room, having just finished the cathartic process of crushing numerous pathetic grunts in battle. It was only a temporary release, but Silver needed all that he could get.  
As he walked through the wide passage, he glanced at the doors leading outside. He scowled, and a very brief mental battle began, which was quickly won by the part of him that just couldn't stand the place he had confined himself to for two days. He sprinted out the doors and let his legs carry him as his mind floated in the comparative freedom, blank and empty of thought for the first time in weeks.

Lyra stepped outside, only to be almost knocked down by a red-and-black blur.  
_Wait... _Lyra followed the offender with her eyes, which widened as she recognized him. She promptly gave chase, frowning a bit when she realized that he was faster than her. Luckily enough, she knew that the street he had just turned down ended in a small yard. She just hoped he didn't do to her whatever he had to the grunt.

Silver almost unconsciously stopped when he hit the dead end. Still not thinking about anything in particular, he hunched over a little, catching his breath. When he wasn't as winded anymore, he looked around. He had no idea where he was - but that was why he had Golbat, right?  
He heard footsteps from the entrance, seeming to fall at a jogging pace. He spun around, hand in his jacket pocket, just as the person entered the yard.  
_Her!?  
-_  
Lyra slowed. The expression on his face told her that yes, it was the same person.

"So you are him."  
The statement hit Silver off-guard. _She was looking for me?_

"Why?" she said. One word, so simple of a question. Silver frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"Why'd you save me?"  
A question he couldn't answer. He looked to the side, still ready to pull out a Pokéball if the need arose.

"I asked you a question."

"That was obvious enough."

"Then why didn't you answer?"  
Silence.

"What, ya too good for me or something?"

Silver scoffed. "Do you even know who you're talking to?"

"Of course... Silver."

"Then why do you even need to ask?" _The jerk... _Lyra opened her mouth to insult him, but he spoke again before she could.  
"I'm Rocket. I'm trash. I'm not too good for anything." _Wait... what? Did he just insult his own organization?  
_Silver pulled out Golbat's ball and released him. _This woman is starting to get annoying. _"Take me somewhere I can get back to HQ from."  
Lyra shook herself out of her shock. "Hey! You still didn't answer my question!"  
As Golbat started to lift Silver up, he met her eyes for the first time during the entire conversation.

"That's because I don't know." And with that, Golbat flew him away.  
Lyra watched him leave, even more confused than she had been before she chased him down. She had been sure there had been some ulterior motive, that he had some grudge against the grunt - but for him to insult Team Rocket and then say that he didn't know...

"Silver, huh?" _You're just as strange as your name._


	2. Choices and Tiny Things

-Choices and Tiny Things-

Lyra walked back towards her house. She stopped by one of the many greenhouses - the section she lived in was the "agricultural" one. The glass was slightly fogged up, but Lyra could still see the rows of vegetables, fruit, and dwarf berry plants. Hoping that the environment would help her clear her head, she entered, making sure that the door was completely shut, so as to not let the heat out.

Section 4, as the official documents referred to it as, was located in the north-eastern part of Goldenrod City. Lyra supposed she was lucky to live in 4; it was pretty far from Rocket headquarters, and it produced food for several cities, so Team Rocket tended to leave the place alone, and most families were able to grow a bit of extra food for themselves.  
It was a tense relationship, however. Before the take-over, the Gym had been in the area. This, combined with the fact that the Rockets didn't like to do much in the area, had turned the area into a haven for the types of people who were more... active in their hatred for Team Rocket. Section 4's fate seemed to balance on an Ariados thread, constantly teetering back and forth between the approval and wrath of Team Rocket. There were constant rumors that an attack would be launched - though whether it would be from the Rockets or the rebels never seemed to be a certain point.

In the back of the building, Lyra noticed several people loading bags onto a Pidgeot. Once the Pokémon had as many bags as it could carry, it flew off, and another one took its place. Going a bit closer, she heard one of the group talking.

"Damn, we're never going to get all the supplies out in time."

"Yeah. We could use some more people. Even one more person would help." It did look like a lot of work, and if the number of supplies was any indication, there were at least three more Pidgeot to load up.

"You know we can't draw too much attention. We have to do it ourselves."  
It seemed the supplies were for the rebels. Lyra hovered in indecision, debating between helping and leaving. She'd always wanted to help. But she was scared. What if the Rockets found out, or her parents got mad, or some freak accident happened?  
Something from the back of her mind seemed to whisper, 'What if. What if you do help? What if this saves someone?'  
'Such little things, they can be so huge, you know.'  
Lyra frowned slightly. She could help them. Just a little thing, nothing big, no huge commitment - just a girl who passed by and did something a little brave. She forced herself to walk over to the workers.

"Do you need help?"  
They stared at her, and she couldn't help but but feel self-conscious with their piercing stares locked on her.  
A few moments passed, and then one of them, a tanned man with dark hair and a beard, said, "Help us load these." Lyra nodded and moved into a spot where she thought she'd be helpful.  
One of the workers, a woman with medium-length, light purple hair, whispered to her, "This helps a lot. Thank you." Lyra simply nodded and helped lift the surprisingly heavy packages onto the Pidgeot. When she turned, she saw the Pokémon staring at her. "Uh... hi?" Lyra wasn't exactly sure what to do, since there were never any Pokémon around - Team Rocket had confiscated them all. She was surprised she knew what this one was called. Hesitantly, she stuck her hand out towards the underside of its head.

"You really shouldn't do that," said one of the workers, a blonde-haired, blue-eyed young man. His words startled Lyra, and she jumped a bit.

"Why not?" she asked, turning her gaze to the worker.

"He's not familiar with you. He could bite you or peck you."  
Lyra looked back at the Pidgeot. She looked him in the eye, and saw an unmistakable spark. Intelligence. Curiosity. Even with the rather critical look he seemed to be shooting at her, she couldn't make herself think of him as violent. "I don't know. He seems okay." She moved her hand forward, placing it under the Pidgeot's head. The feathers were smooth and soft, but with a tiny bit of roughness. She instinctively ran her hand in the direction the feathers grew, smoothing down the rough patches as she went. A tense second passed; she was unaware of the rest of the group's eyes on her, solely focused as she was on the Pokémon in front of her.  
Finally, the Pidgeot made a small trilling sound, closed its eyes, and pressed its head against her hand. Lyra couldn't help but smile at how peaceful he seemed.

"Hey, you ever handled a Pokémon before?" asked another of the workers. Lyra briefly looked up before shaking her head and returning her attention to the Pidgeot. _I've never even been this close to one. _The smoothness of the feathers, the structure of the wings, the way the crest on its head seemed to flow down its neck all mesmerized her.  
The workers all exchanged looks. The purple-haired woman asked her, "What's your name?"

"...Lyra," she answered dreamily.

"Hmm. ...well, Lyra, we need to keep working. Though I am glad you get along with him."

"Huh? Oh, I'm sorry! Yeah, let's keep going!" Lyra said, giving the Pidgeot one last scratch under the chin before resuming her work.

The work was done quickly afterward; Lyra returned home tired, but with a sense of satisfaction. She had done something to help the rebels, something she had always been scared to do. She had met and befriended a Pokémon, a chance she had thought she'd never get. She was glad she had made that small choice. Maybe it would help her be better - less scared of insignificant shades of a possibility. One tiny step at a time.  
Overall, it was a very good day for her.

* * *

"You said you wanted to talk to me about something, right?"

"Yes."

"Well, tell me then!"

"Of course... We were loading supplies for Blackthorn, and we had this girl help ou-"

"You weren't worried about her telling?"

"She saw us and just turned around. It was fine. Anyway, she just went right up to the Pidgeot and started petting it. No training, nothing."

"That's pretty cool. But why is it important?"

"Well, I was thinking, with some training-"

"You wanna recruit her?"

"Uh... yes, that's-"

"Go ahead! She sounds like she'd be good! We need more Trainers, anyway. More everything, actually, but you can't have everything, now can you?"

"Trainers? I was thinking more along the lines of a Breeder..."

"We have enough of them. Put her into the Trainer course. We can change it later if we need."

"Right. I'll go make preparations."

* * *

"You're going to be in charge of a mission next week. You need the practice."

"…"

"Geez. If looks could kill... I'm supposed to brief you, anyways. Section 4, the agricultural one-"

"I know that."

"It's a briefing. Calm down. Section 4's been withholding food. So somebody needs to go show them what happens when you don't follow orders."

"…"

"Take a couple hostages, get the food we were supposed to get. And a little extra. If you can manage that."

"…"

"And make sure they don't do it again. Maybe you could... set an example."

* * *

Lyra woke up to the soft murmur of voices beyond her door. Immediately, her thoughts snapped to the day before. Had the Rockets found out that she had helped the rebels? She sat up on her bed, tensed and ready to jump out if need be. Vaguely, the memory of her meeting with Silver rose like a bubble, then popped into the details and strangeness of it. She hoped no one had found out about that, either... _Silver... Could it really... He seemed so different from the grunts. From what I expected. Especially if he is the one who saved me... Ah, this isn't the time! _Paying closer attention to the conversation outside the door, she noticed the tone seemed much friendlier than she would've expected. _Maybe it isn't Team Rocket. _The thought had barely passed through her brain before the door to her room opened.  
It was the woman from the rebel workers.

"Ah, it looks like she's already awake! Well then, Lyra, I think I have some things to explain to you." Lyra simply stared on, dumbfounded. _What... What's going on? Why is she in my house? And what is she talking about, needing to explain?_

"Oh, you look a bit confused." The woman chuckled. "I suppose I would be too. First things first, my name is Alexandria. But most people just call me Alexa. I noticed you got along very well with that Pidgeot yesterday - we all did. That's pretty rare for someone with no previous handling experience. So I was thinking - maybe you'd like to help us... on a more permanent basis. We could use you."  
Lyra had thought she was surprised before, but this took the cake. This woman was barging into her house and asking her to become an active member of the rebels.

"What." Lyra immediately gave herself a mental kick for sounding so annoyed and stupid. It was just so much. She felt like she'd been shocked - or at least, what she imagined it felt like.

"Ah, I'm sorry. Here, let me start over."

"I'm Alexandria - but you may call me Alexa. As you know, I am one of the rebels working to try to bring down Team Rocket. The way you handled that Pidgeot yesterday was amazing. Especially since you've never had any experience with a Pokémon. Someone with as much natural talent as you would be a great asset. So, on behalf of the entire base, I'm inviting you to join us."  
Lyra sat in silence. Join the rebels? She'd always wanted to help, but she'd also always been scared of what could happen - not just to her, but to her parents as well. She wouldn't want to put them in danger at all... And, what if she ended up being horrible? What if it was just a fluke, and the minute she actually had to do something, she froze up or failed spectacularly? It wouldn't be just her that suffered.

"It's okay if you're nervous. We all were when we first started."

"I... I'm sure... but... what if I'm horrible what if itwasjustafluke?" She flailed her arms around, further accentuating her confusion and fear.

"Trust me, it wasn't."

"But what if I can't do anything else!? Then I'd just be useless..."

"That's what we have training for. We'll help where you need it."  
Lyra stayed silent. Even if that was all she could think of now to be worried about, she knew that something else would appear, that the unpleasant feeling in her stomach would bloom into some crippling worry. She put her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. She wasn't sure why; the movements were foreign and mechanical to her.  
_Mom. Dad. _That was it. Slowly, she walked through the door to find her parents sitting on the sofa, worried, with wondering, frightened expressions on their faces. Lyra lifted her head, met the gazes of her parents, and hollowly walked over and fell to her knees.

Silence reigned for a full minute, and then Lyra spoke.

"Did she tell you..." Though the sentence was unfinished, it still carried her intended message.

"A little," her mother answered. She sighed, and Lyra caught the barest shine of a tear on her cheek. Lyra lifted herself to her knees, and wrapped her arms around her parents. She felt a drop hit her shoulder - her mother had started crying again. She felt her parents embrace her - her mother's arms, thinner than they should have been, and seemingly fragile, and her father's, strong, rougher, but still having a paper-thin feel in that moment.  
The family stayed tied together for a while, before Lyra's mother slowly drew her arms back to herself.

"Lyra... I..." Her mother paused to blink back more tears. Lyra didn't quite understand why everything felt so desperate and final. She hadn't made her choice, had she?

"I've always wanted to keep you safe... but Arceus knows that it has to happen sooner or later..."  
Lyra closed her eyes and bowed her head as she came to a realization. _I don't have a choice, do I?_  
_If I don't... what will happen? The Rockets will get me. I'll die. I'll end up here anyway._  
_And if it hurts this much, just to do this... what would the others feel like?_  
_What do the ones who truly have no choice feel like?_  
A sad smile flickered across her face. _This is how it's going to be. _She lifted her head to look at her parents once again. "Mom... Dad..."  
She could see - in their eyes, on their faces, in the small hitch of breath her mother took - they knew. So, wordlessly, they hugged each other once again. Lyra could feel tears welling up in her own eyes, and after a fruitless struggle, she let them silently fall.  
This embrace was shorter, and yet she felt more comfort in it. Maybe because she knew her path now. Maybe because she had, if only briefly, silenced the turmoil in her mind.  
Who knew.

She walked back into the room, that, so small a time ago, she had been ignorantly resting in.  
"What do I need to do?"

She walked up to her parents. Another hug, kisses, exchanges of "I love you"s.

She walked out the door, following the purple-haired woman to wherever this choice would take her.


	3. Learning

Lyra was woken up by the sound of cawing.

"Huh...? Oh. Hi." The Pidgeot cocked its head, staring at her for some moments.

"Fine, fine, I'm up," she grumbled as she peeled the covers off of herself. She was still wearing her outfit from yesterday – one of the rules was that you always had to be prepared.

It had been a week since she had left her home. Add another day, and it was when everything started, when she had finally gotten the courage to help the rebels.

It was also the last time she had seen Silver, but their meeting was faint in her mind. With everything that she had been taught in the past week, there was no room for such vague thoughts.

She changed quickly into a black shirt and khaki pants. Comfy, and convenient. Perfect for a girl learning about being a Trainer, or what now passed for one, at the very least.

Walking quickly into the hall and up the stairs at its end, she arrived in the main room.

Brief greetings were exchanged as she walked towards the kitchen. They generally had fruit, berries, oatmeal – nothing that would release smoke. That was saved for if they truly needed the energy.

Lyra quickly ate, then went back downstairs to the bathroom. When she was finished, she returned to the main room, then followed another stairway up and beyond, finally arriving outside.

The sun was shining brightly that day, which Lyra was thankful for. Training wasn't as much fun on cloudy days, when the air was cool and whipped around giving her goosebumps.

"You ready, Lyra?" Alexa called out to her. She had taken it upon herself to teach Lyra, another thing Lyra was glad for. She knew her the best out of everyone there, and while she was slowly meeting and getting acquainted with the other rebels, she wasn't really comfortable around many of them yet.

Her day went by in a mix of exercises, both for her and the Pidgeot. She wasn't sure how Alexa had managed to get her the Pidgeot, considering how powerful and helpful it was, but once again, she was grateful. She ran around the edges of the enclosed area they inhabited, trying to get just a bit farther in the time Alexa would give her. Half an hour was spent memorizing type matchups, which she found fairly easy – water put out fire and washed away dirt, bugs ate plants, and rocks knocked flying things out of the sky. She still wasn't quite sure how Dark was effective against Ghost, but she wasn't Arceus, so she just accepted it as something kinda weird. A short lunch, consisting of the same types of food as breakfast, helped restore some of her energy. She had mock battles against other rebels, which was her favorite part of the day. She liked it because it allowed her to put what she had learned to use and see how things worked into each other. For example, a Breeder that she went against, rather than attacking, preferred to charm their opponents into sleep, infatuation, or confusion, then take advantage of the new weakness. She would mentally note the strategies, and try to work them into her own fights. To end off the day, she learned about the history of training - the origins of the League, the spread of training as a sport, and the legendary Trainers that everyone in the base looked up to.

Lyra always looked forward to those lessons. She loved to sit under the big tree at the edge of the courtyard, spellbound by the tales of the legendary Trainers. Other rebels would even stop and listen to the stories of their heroes for a brief moment before being chased off to do their jobs. She particularly liked the ones from Kanto and Johto, since they were people who had gone through the Rocket takeover and fought against it. The siblings Red and Leaf, the former of which was one of two people to catch every known Pokémon in Kanjoh. Green, the former Gym Leader, who had almost been the Grand Champion of the Indigo League. Ethan and Kris, the "battle couple" who stayed by each other's side until the very end.

Unfortunately for Lyra, they were not part of that day's lesson, and she was instead taught about the Gyms.

"Lyra! You did really well today. I've got one more thing for you, though," said Alexa after Lyra had successfully recounted the basics of Gyms.

"Huh? What's that?" Lyra asked. She had expected the history lesson to be the end of the day for her.

"We're going to play hide-and-seek!"

"...what?" Lyra gave Alexa a confused look. _Hide-and-seek? Er... That's a kid's game._

"I know, it seems a bit weird. But just trust me on this one. I'll seek."

It didn't seem she had much of a choice, so Lyra promptly ran off in a random direction. She found an empty bin and climbed inside.

Much to her dismay, Alexa found her fairly quickly.

"That was a pretty bad place to hide, you know."

"Why's that? You couldn't see me, could you?"

"No, but I didn't need to. For one thing, you ran off, so I knew which direction you went in. Secondly, you hid in an object that echoes quite a bit. I could hear pretty much all the little sounds you made. Also, since you hid in something, you couldn't have fled and hid somewhere else."

"Isn't moving against the rules?"

"I never said you couldn't."

"Oh." _...I guess I'm really bad at hide-and-seek._

It was silent for a minute before Alexa said, "Why don't we try that again?"

Even taking everything Alexa had said into consideration, Lyra was still discovered quickly. Apparently, her hiding spot was "uncreative". "Let me guess, you walked, and then you didn't have hardly any time to find a spot?"

"Nailed it," Lyra grumbled.

"How about you try to find me this time?"

"I'll never find you! You're too good at this game..."

"It's not just a game, Lyra. It's quite important." Another few moments of silence passed. _Important? How?_

"One more try, then, Lyra?"

"All right..."

Lyra thought about what had gone wrong the last two times as she looked around for a spot to hide. As she headed towards a group of low walls, she thought about what she'd been told. Too fast, and she'd be heard. Too slow, and she'd have no time to hide. She realized she was jogging. Well, there went that. _Unless..._ Lyra turned around and quickly walked the other way.

_Okay... Now what? _Lyra decided that she was out of earshot, so she started jogging once more. She saw boxes, barrels, and walls, but they all seemed too obvious. Lyra turned her head to look straight in front of her, and saw a tree.

_That... would take some time to climb. But that would also make it an unexpected spot, right? I'll try it._

Lyra walked to the other side of the tree, which would help hide her if she was still climbing when Alexa tried to find her.

After situating herself in the tree, Lyra waited for Alexa to find her. It seemed like she was taking longer this time, but there was no way to be sure.

While she waited, Lyra reflected on her time there up to that point. It was hard, definitely. They woke up early, and didn't have a ton to eat. But, at the same time, Lyra couldn't say that she regretted joining the rebels. She'd be able to help people out this way, and she was learning a lot.

_Man, all that learning really takes the energy out of me, though._ Suddenly, she heard a voice that sounded rather like Alexa's, and closed her eyes in order to get a better bearing on it. It proved to be a false alarm when the voice responded to the name of "Chelsea", however. A breeze blew through the leaves on the tree, which, while it made her shiver just a bit, also made a wonderful sound that reminded her of home – her mother folding clothes, her dad walking in with armfuls of leafy plants rustling against each other, her parents tucking her into bed and whispering things that she couldn't quite make out.

The next thing Lyra knew, she was lying on the ground, staring at shining green with a sore butt.

"Oh. Just who I was looking for!" Lyra heard the voice giggle behind her, before it came to her front. Alexa. Suddenly, Lyra remembered that she was supposed to be playing hide-and-seek, and that she was also supposed to be in the tree above her. As she took Alexa's offered hand and hauled herself up, she realized that she had fallen asleep – and then out of the tree.

"What a way to get myself caught," she groaned, rubbing the back of her head.

"Yeah, but on the plus side, I've been looking for you for about 15 minutes," Alexa said. "In any case, I think that's about enough for today. You can go ahead and eat if you want.

After her dinner, Lyra showered, then lied on her bed. She still wasn't quite sure what the purpose of playing hide-and-seek was. She could see how it supposed to help with hiding, but it seemed so different that she couldn't imagine that it would actually be useful. In any case, she was tired, and so she closed her eyes and let herself drift off to a place where she didn't have to think.

The next morning seemed much the same. Wake up, eat, go outside. Learn some more. Eat again.

Then Alexa came up to her during lunch.

"You're going to do something a bit different this afternoon."

She proceeded to explain that, in order to see how she handled herself, she was going to go on a "patrol", complete with air-quotes.

"Don't worry, there isn't going to be anything. You're just going to go around the immediate area so we can see how you act. That way we know what you still need to learn."

Lyra was still nervous, despite the reassurances. Alexa got a map and showed her where to go, while Lyra tried her best to memorize the path. It was simple. Just a circle, with one dead end to check.

As she set out, she looked around her, walking fast so she could cover ground while still being able to see her surroundings clearly. Nothing unusual stuck out to her – the buildings and roads were the same desaturated grays that they always were, the sky was bright and blue, and a few leaves clinged to the walls.

She walked into the dead-end street, glancing around the small and, as she had been informed, uninhabited area. Grey. Leaves. Sky. Nothing unusual except for a near-pristine piece of paper that fluttered around and stood out like a flower in the snow. A quick glance given, she strided over to it and picked it up, only to be confronted by a jumble of letters and numbers that made no sense, yet were organized as if they contained the most important information.

She folded the paper and placed it in her pocket, turned, and continued back to the base.

Once Alexa had finished asking about what she saw and telling her how she could improve, Lyra handed her the piece of paper.

"I did find something... Here..." Alexa unfolded the paper and criticized its contents.

"Hmm. This looks like it might be a code of some sort, though it probably isn't anything important. Everything gets coded. I'll have Brenna check on it, though."

"Brenna?" asked Lyra. This was a name she hadn't heard yet.

"Yeah, she's the resident code-breaker, along with Mitchell. She'll be able to figure out whatever it says."

"Oh." Lyra had noticed that she was saying that quite frequently, though who could blame her, with everything she was learning?

"Why don't you come down with me? It'll do you good to meet some more of the people around here."

Lyra nodded her assent, to which Alexa responded, "Alright then, just follow me."

The room Alexa led her to was downstairs and a bit secluded, "to help them concentrate" as Alexa said. She knocked, and a cheery voice called, "Come in!"

Inside, the room was slightly larger than Lyra would have thought, furnished with a couple of desks and a sofa, and very chilly. A woman with wavy reddish hair and hazel eyes that seemed backlit lounged on the couch in a gray hoodie and jeans. Lyra assumed this was Brenna, as the only other person in the room was a young man sitting at one of the desks with his back to them, presumably Mitchell. All she could see was his dirty blonde hair and black sweater. Lyra wished she had one on as the hair rose on her arms.

"Oh, hey, Alexa! And who's this?" asked the woman as she stood up and waved. She seemed very energetic for her surroundings, which went from brightly lit at the desks to very dim in the corners.

"I'm Lyra. You're Brenna, right?"

"Yep, that's me! And Lyra is such a pretty name! So, anyway, why you guys here? Nobody ever comes down to chat," said Brenna, the last sentence accompanied by a small pout.

"That's because we're supposed to be working," came a new voice. "I suppose I should introduce myself," said the man as he stood up and turned around, revealing himself to be much taller than Lyra had expected. He took off a pair of black-framed glasses, setting them on the desk before walking up and extending his hand.

"I'm Mitchell. I work on codes along with Brenna. Not that there's ever that much work." Lyra briefly shook his hand and repeated her name, before stepping back a bit. Maybe it was his height, but he intimidated her for some reason.

"Aww, you don't need to be scared by him. He's tall, and sometimes he's got a sharp tongue, but he's friendly!" teased Brenna.

"I'm not scared of him! He's just... really tall. I was trying to get a better look at him," retorted Lyra. To back up her claim, she gave Mitchell a once-over. Black shoes, jeans, black sweater, dirty blond hair, and blue eyes.

"Whatever you say," said Brenna. "Anyway, what did you want, since somebody interrupted," she continued, giving Mitchell a sidelong glance, who just rolled his eyes.

"Lyra found this paper, and we were wondering if it was coded or gibberish," said Alexa, holding out the paper in question. Brenna took it and studied it briefly.

"It looks like there might be some patterns... but I'd have to check to be sure. What do you think?" she said, looking towards Mitchell.

"Yeah, there's some possibility here," said Mitchell, who had moved to look over Brenna's shoulder. "We'll just have to get back to you."

"Okay, that sounds good. Thanks!" answered Alexa.

"Bye!" said Brenna, giving another energetic wave. "And nice meeting you, Lyra!"

"You too! And you," said Lyra, waving towards both of the code-breakers. Mitchell simply nodded and raised his hand.

As they walked back towards the stairs, Alexa asked, "So, what did you think of them?"

"Brenna's... very energetic. And Mitchell seems really quiet. But I think they're both pretty nice!" answered Lyra.

"Yeah, that sounds about right. Why don't we grab something to eat?"

"Yeah, that sounds good."

* * *

Later that night, after most of the base had gone to sleep, the two code-breakers were still awake. Brenna was still trying to decipher the paper, which she had determined was, in fact, in code, and Mitchell was translating a few papers into code.

"Geez, you wouldn't think it would be this hard to break," said Brenna suddenly, breaking the silence that had enveloped the room since a conversation about Nanab berries about an hour earlier.

"Don't ask me for help. I just started getting the hang of this one," replied Mitchell.

Brenna just sighed and returned to her work. "Maybe if... this was actually..." Frantic scribbling could be heard. "Of course! How did I not see that..." Brenna sighed.

The room was silent for a period of time as Brenna corrected the work she had done, occasionally mumbling incoherently. A certain word, however, caused her eyes to widen as she started to work even more frantically than before.

"Mitchell."

Under normal circumstances, he might have ignored her and continued working, especially when he had just told her that he wasn't going to help her, but something in the tone of her voice caused him to put down his pencil and turn around.

"What?"

"It says something about an attack." Hearing this, he frowned, his brows coming together in a worried expression. They knew the paper wasn't theirs, so the fact that it was mentioning an attack...

"I... don't know exactly what it's sayi-" Brenna's sentence was cut off by a gasp. Hearing her obviously worried tone, Mitchell got up and walked the short distance between the desks they occupied.

"This... I think this is a Rocket message!"

His eyes widened, his expression a more subtle reflection of Brenna's.

"And... this is an attack plan, it looks like," continued Brenna.

"It's a good thing that we got it, then. When's the attack supposed to be?"

"Uh, hold on..." After a minute of so of only the sound of a pencil scratching on paper, another gasp escaped Brenna's mouth.

"Oh, Arceus." Neither of the two code-breakers invoked the name of Arceus very much, so its use combined with Brenna's tone and all-too-evident concern caused Mitchell's heart to drop to his stomach.

"It's supposed to be-"

The answer to his question was stolen out of Brenna's mouth, answered by the sudden, faint sounds of shouts, Pokémon cries, and attacks.

"Now..."


	4. Hunted, Haunted

_-Earlier-_

Why did they even need to code the paper?

Silver glared at the near-pristine sheet of paper, trying to decode the words in his head.

_That's... S? No... T. Is it S?_

"Damn this," Silver growled. A piece of paper was making him mad, and that only made it worse. He reached up and rubbed his temples. He could feel a headache coming on, and-

"Sir! We've finishe-"

"SHUT UP!" Silver yelled, immediately regretting it when a multitude of faces turned towards him. He couldn't appear unstable, especially not when he was leading a mission.

Quickly massaging his temples once more, he turned around with a sigh, and asked the grunt, "What?"

"W-we finished scouting," answered the grunt, obviously unnerved by the outburst. "They've only got five or six outside, we could easily overpower them."

"Five or six? I don't want an estimate! You should know better than to give me an answer like that!" snapped Silver. He was in a foul mood, and any excuse to take out his anger was fine by him.

"W-we caught them changing guards... there were six in the first group and five in the second!"

"...You're not going to be frightened so easily during the mission, are you?"

"N-no sir!"

"Then stop stuttering." With that, he turned back around, once again focusing his attention to the paper in his hand. After only a few seconds, though, he tossed it away, muttering, "Ah, fuck it." He already knew what he was supposed to do. Scare them, take their supplies. He didn't need some idiotic piece of paper to know that.

He looked up at the sky. The sun was just starting to dip in the sky, and they'd need some time to get there without alerting anyone to their presence.

He looked over his shoulder at the group of twenty – four admins, who acted as field commanders of sorts, each with four grunts under them.

And him at the top.

"We're leaving. Remember, try not to destroy anything we could use. And don't kill too many people." Silver felt a smirk spread across his face.

"Though I won't argue if it happens."

* * *

Lyra was woken up by the trembling ground.

Her sleep was barely disturbed, and her eyes slowly fluttered open as a faint rumble vibrated in her ears.

There was a moment of confusion as she pulled herself up and yawned, wondering _just what are they doing up there?_ and _did I oversleep somehow?_

Then another tremor ran through the ground, accompanied by the slight sound of a pained yell, and suddenly her eyes were open and she was very much awake.

She threw the covers off of herself, swinging her body out of the bed and rushing out of the small room she occupied. A few others were already in the hall, running as quickly as they could in their just-awake state towards and up the stairs.

Lyra stood, pressed against the closed door, wide-eyed and scared. Her head swiveled back and forth as she watched rebels stream down the hall. Thoughts ran through her head faster than she could process – _We're being attacked oh Arceus what is going on there's so many people what do I do- _She squeezed her eyes shut in a vain attempt to control her mind, to block out all the noise that was making her this way.

When she opened them again, the stream had lessened to a trickle of only one or two people, and then she was alone, left behind in the wake of rebels rushing to defend their home. She felt guilty – here she was, cowering in a small hallway, when all of those people had gone to repel the intruders! Before she could fall into another panic, she forced her legs to carry her up.

But all she could do once she reached the newly-made coliseum was stare.

Half of the courtyard was in shadow, the walls and trees blocking the light of the quarter-moon. Where the lunar beams did reach, the ground was pale, the figures struggling on it thrown into stark contrast; moonlight shone on blood and water alike. Flames and bursts of pure energy threw grotesque shadows on the dirt, further maiming the figures of the injured. A man was thrashed about by a Houndoom, jaws wreathed in teal flames tearing the flesh of his arm away. A black-clad figure, a Rocket grunt, her gender revealed by her silhouette, writhed as parasitic seeds tunneled their roots into her skin.

The images seared themselves into Lyra's mind through her widened eyes, horror and helplessness bubbling up into her chest and causing her to feel every beat of her heart.

**ba-dump**

What was she doing here?

**ba-dump**

She had no Pokémon.

**ba-dump **

There was nothing she could do.

**ba-dump**

helpless.

**ba-dump**

useless.

**ba-dump**

terrified.

So she turned and ran.

Silver watched from the shadows as the fighting continued, relishing the sight of his Gengar melting into shadow after a well-placed Curse on a Dragonair. Though he wasn't going to directly participate in the fight himself, he knew that his Pokémon were the strongest, and he had released them in order to better open up a gap to one of the buildings.

After all, his job was much more important than some simple battling. He was there to pass on a message – and make sure that it was understood.

He mentally asked Alakazam to find the food stores and start taking the supplies. The telepathic equivalent of a nod received, he turned his attention back to the battleground in front of him.

He wanted to find the leader, and he had no doubt that they were hiding out in one of the buildings like some coward. _Like my father would do._

The question was which one. Another order was issued to Alakazam, this time to keep an eye out for any vaguely authoritative figures.

Suddenly, he saw a fleeing figure run into a doorway. Perhaps they were running to report.

He made his way through the darkness.

* * *

Lyra stood in the middle of the second floor, hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath.

Trying to push the horror out of her mind.

She'd never seen anything even remotely like that before; there hadn't been an attack that she could remember, and even when she had been living with one side of this war, learning how to fight, everything had seemed so calm.

Now the small part of her that was fully functioning chastised her for being so naïve.

Her self-insulting was suddenly halted by the sound of footsteps echoing off of the staircase's enclosed entrance. She didn't dare wait to see if it was a rebel or not; she didn't dare look up the stairs. Her instinct screamed at her to flee, and she did, sprinting into the darkness of the next staircase.

He saw the figure fleeing once again, towards another set of stairs. Unfortunately, he did not know the layout of the building, so the darkness was a severe inhibitor to him.

Luckily, he had just the right Pokémon.

As he took the stairs two at a time, he threw his singular remaining Pokéball into the large room beyond. Though the flash of red light from the release was brief, the area stayed illuminated due to the flames on the shoulders of the large Pokémon.

"TyyyYYY!"

"I need you to light my way down those stairs."

The Typhlosion turned its head briefly towards Silver before making its way towards the stairs, Silver staying close by him.

Lyra reached the bottom and kept running, sure by the roar that had come from behind that she did not want to meet the person commanding its owner.

Coming to a branch, she simply took the right, sure that whatever monster had vocalized itself earlier was right on her heels.

She entered a room, one that she'd never been in. There was only a table and a few cabinets; she quickly ducked behind one to catch her breath.

_The people attacking don't know this place. They won't find you..._

The branching path didn't slow Silver or Typhlosion down a bit as Typhlosion used his more sensitive ears to discern the footfalls of their quarry. They followed the hall to its end, unknowingly passing the room their target was in.

_Oh Arceus oh Arceus they knew I came this way!_

_How!?_

A thought seemed to tickle the back of her skull. She tried to push it away – _I don't have time for this!_ \- but it forced itself to the surface of her consciousness.

"...you ran off, so I knew which direction you ran in."

...Of course.

Now that they were in the same area, it was only a matter of time before they found her, she knew. She slowly stood, peeked around the corner of the cabinet, and quietly made her way to the doorway. Another surreptitious glance, this time in the direction of her pursuers. Her eyes widened to see the large, fiery monster, but she hurried in the other direction, taking care not to let her footsteps give her away.

Hide-and-seek seemed a lot less trivial now.

Silver scowled at the end of the hall, unknowingly mimicking the expression on his Pokémon's face. He turned and opened his mouth, preparing to order Typhlosion into one of the rooms, but stopped when he caught a glimpse of something rounding the corner.

He stood there for only a second, thinking over whether his eyes were playing tricks on him and if he was on a wild-Farfetch'd-chase, before grunting and ordering Typhlosion to go back to the split in the path.

No sooner had they gone there than they heard footfalls again, this time down the third remaining hall.

"Predictable."

This hall led to a large room filled with boxes and furniture – a junk room.

At least it offered many places to hide.

Quickly looking around, Lyra saw a gap in-between two piles (_too obvious_), a cabinet she might be able to fit in (_that could get me trapped_), and several piles of boxes she might be able to burrow into.

That would work.

She worked her way into a pile in a niche on the other side of the room just as her hunters came in.

_Where did they go?_

_There's no way they could have gone back – not without us noticing._

Silver scanned the room, looking for any sign of activity – anything to tell him where the person had escaped to.

But he saw nothing. No movement. No shifting. Just stillness.

He frowned and considered his situation. On one hand, he was sure now that whoever he was chasing had not been reporting to anyone, or wouldn't lead him to the person in charge, at the very least. Maybe he should just cut his losses and spend his time more constructively.

Then again, this person could know where it was, most likely did, in fact. It would only take a bit of threatening to get them to tell him. Not to mention that quitting now might undermine his reputation.

Well, he'd already cornered them. Might as well finish it.

How to find them, though.

He surveyed the room again. Furniture and boxes. What could he do with that?

The answer suddenly struck him.

There was one thing it all had in common. Wood. Cardboard. Paper.

All quite flammable.

He smirked as he motioned Typhlosion over. He whispered his plan in his ear, to which Typhlosion nodded. He opened his mouth slightly, taking a deep breath before blowing a stream of fire around the room. All of the objects stacked within the room caught fire as soon as the Flamethrower touched them, their searing heat pitiful compared to the flames produced by the Pokémon.

They stood for a minute, waiting for the rebel to be flushed out, before starting a slow walk around the room, shooting more fire into the blaze.

Lyra heard a _wooshing_ sound, accompanied by the room's illumination and followed shortly by crackling.

She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the scorching pain, but the temperature simply rose. She slowly reopened her eyes, wary of the possible sight of her supposed shelter burning, but the fire seemed to have missed her. She thanked every Legendary she could think of for her chosen spot.

But of course, her pursuer wouldn't give up that easily. She heard steps, then the distinctive sound of fire being shot like a flamethrower. Elongated shadows leaped across the room.

And then it repeated herself, and her heart beat faster with every _tap_ of footsteps, with every _fwoosh_ of flames.

Then her hunter finally came into view, and she could have sworn her heart stopped.

It was him. Oh Arceus, it was _him._

Outlined by the fire, his hair seeming almost like one itself, Silver stood with a hulking beast that she recognized but couldn't put a name to. A point, a Flamethrower sent that way. His metallic eyes, reflecting all of the firelight, seemed to glow like a forge.

And then, he turned towards her, and she knew she was going to die.

His eyes didn't just reflect the light; they collected it and and sent it malevolently back, cold despite the inferno.

There had been nothing, so either they had died, or he'd missed them somehow. As Typhlosion sent a Flamethrower to the last of the piles, he looked around, annoyed.

Then he saw the last one. It was hiding in a recess, and would've been hidden when he first entered the room. He was annoyed with himself for missing it, but it didn't particularly matter now. There was nowhere left to run.

He walked over, Typhlosion following behind. He had extinguished his flames in order to preserve energy, however brief the period was.

The recess was no longer covered in shadows, and the firelight reflected off of a pair of brown eyes staring at him fearfully.

He smirked, waited.

He waved his hand at Typhlosion, signaling him to start up his flames again, and opened his mouth-

only for the smirk to fall off of his face.

Typhlosion's flames revealed a girl with chestnut hair, and though her hair wasn't in the rather distinctive pigtails he'd seen them in before, he still recognized her.

The girl that he had, against all logic, saved.

He realized that he never did find out her name, then immediately tossed the thought away.

It didn't matter. This girl had been nothing more than an annoyance, and a threat. She was his enemy, and this was his chance to be done with her, information be damned.

As he started to move his arm, he was suddenly slammed with a memory he thought he had destroyed.

There had been fire, much like his current position, but nobody had caused it on purpose. It had simply been collateral, much like the young woman who cowered at the other end of the room. He had ran towards her, he had tried to help her, but his younger self had merely been thrown backwards by the _monster_ in between.

The monster had turned its sleek, fabricated head towards him. He had been frozen by the lack of anything in those glowing blue eyes.

He had suddenly been yanked backwards by his father's Rhydon, just as the monster turned its attention to the woman screaming as the flames grazed her skin. And though he had reached out, there was nothing that could have stopped anything from happening in that moment.

She had been older, her hair darker, her eyes blue. She had cared for him. They had actually known each other.

And yet, Silver couldn't separate her from the girl in front of him.

They had the same look. He'd seen it more than just those two times, even.

But only now did it occur to him that it was the look of someone who knew they were about to die.

_They're not the same,_ he told himself. _They're different people._

But that wasn't the issue, was it?

_Different people... they're different... people... people... they're not..._

_**monsters.**_

Silver's thoughts were interrupted by a telepathic message from Alakazam. He'd found the right place, though the person was nowhere to be found.

Silver nodded along with his mental message, a disadvantageous habit he had trained himself out of.

"Typhlosion... we're..." He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. _Weak. _As he turned, he finished his statement.

"We're leaving."

And he ran away from the things he had thought he would never see again.

* * *

**Hallo, Nighttyger here. Hope you enjoyed the chapter - I think it's my best yet.**

**I did some editing, so the chapters should be a bit easier to read now.**

**Next, I do believe I'll be putting out an ORAS celebration piece. And then after that, I've got a bit of a project to work on. Specifically, I've been beta-ing a story: Pokemon Ranger: Shadow of a Doubt  by _waterlily12_. It's pretty good and just keeps getting better, so I think you should check it out if you're a fan of the Ranger games. Anyway, I only started beta-ing halfway through the story, and we've decided to fix that and bring the earlier chapters up to speed. It shouldn't take too long, but I thought I'****d let you guys know, anyway. I do believe that's it, so end message!**


	5. Aftermath

She would have lied there forever. It was by a mere sense of duty that the room was even checked, and the same obscurity which saved her also nearly prevented her allies from finding her.

As it was, it was Brenna, assigned searching duty after being locked in her room all night, who found her curled up amongst the boxes. It only took a glance to realize that something had happened to her, and Brenna's heart wrung at the vacant stare so unlike her earlier vitality. She kneeled down by her and reached out to touch her shoulder, then thought better of it, only saying her name.

To her surprise, the girl turned her head. Her eyes seemed to search, then locked onto the woman in front of her. Her mouth moved in centimeters, never releasing any sound.

"Are you... alright...?" Perhaps it was human instinct to ask a question so easily answered by idle observation.

The girl's mouth moved a few more times, before finally producing a hoarse word.

"B... Brenna?"

"Yeah, Lyra. It's me." Apparently, she took it as some sort of signal, for she slowly raised herself until she was kneeling.  
Then, before Brenna could utter another word, she found Lyra holding on to her, burying her face in her shirt. She wasn't crying, only shivering as if the room had been consumed in a blizzard rather than a blaze. Brenna held her, some instinct within her taking over as she tried to calm her.  
Finally, Lyra pulled away, though she still shook slightly. She looked straight into Brenna's eyes, speaking her first coherent, albeit shaky, sentence since the attack had started.

"I thought I was gonna die."

The way she said it was so matter-of-fact.

It scared Brenna, the way she said it. Like she had long gone past being afraid, and now she was just detached, like she was just... waiting. Waiting for something to come pick her up.

"Lyra... I'm going to take you to the medical area. Just to make sure you're okay." She received a nod, which encouraged her. She helped Lyra pull herself off of the floor and led her down the hall. The girl's gaze lingered on a hall that passed to her left, and she seemed surprised when they passed another. She dragged her feet up the two flights of stairs, mouthing words as they passed up them. She couldn't quite tell, but Brenna thought they were numbers.

* * *

She waited for Brenna to open the door. Where were they going? Med... Medic? Medical.  
Right. Of course. Medical.

The door opened, and she squinted against the sunlight-  
then shielded her eyes from the bodies. She slapped her hands against her face, hunching over like she'd been punched, not wanting to see the man screaming about how his missing arm _had to be there, he could still feel it burning_, or the black-clad bodies with something sticking out of them, or the lady whose stomach was gone, or-  
All she could do was shake her head, trying to understand how she saw all that in a second that she didn't know had actually been ten, and let the hand on her back push her stumbling along the ground that she thankfully couldn't see was stained.

After a minute (five), she felt warmth prying at her hands, and though she was scared, she let them take her hands, because she couldn't feel the outside, and she wasn't quite sure whether that was a good thing or not, but surely they knew what they were doing?

When she opened her eyes, she saw Brenna holding her hands and a man standing in front of her. He had dark, trimmed hair and stubble, dark eyes, and tan skin, and he looked tired and full of concern.

"Just sit down, I'll check you out in a minute, all right?" said the man. Lyra nodded and sat on a crate. She felt like someone was watching her. She looked around, but saw only Brenna and some boxes.

A seeming eternity later, the man came back into the room. He leaned against the wall and heaved a sigh, then seemed to remember he wasn't alone.

"Ah... My name is John." He walked over. "And yours would be?"

"Lyra..." she responded, hardly hesitating at all.

A small, sad smile flickered onto the man's face as he kneeled down. "That's a pretty name. Would you mind holding your arms out for me?"

Lyra followed the directions he gave, stretching her limbs, walking, and watching him move his hand back and forth. After a few different tasks, he nodded and stood back up.

"You need some rest, Lyra. You just follow me and I'll get you a bed, all right?" She nodded and followed him through a short hall into another room, not noticing Brenna's worried expression.

Sleep came quickly.

* * *

Brenna frowned after them. Lyra had her own room. Why would he keep her here?  
Of course, she knew several reasons why, but she didn't want to acknowledge any of them. A situation such as this was taxing on her optimism.  
She heard footsteps and the rustle of fabric that used to be a muted blue.

"John... Is she going to be alright?"

He sighed slightly. "How was she before you brought her here?"

Her brows creased. "Kind of empty... She was okay if someone was talking to her, but otherwise she seemed rather... delayed. I think something happened to her, but what..."

There was silence for a few moments before he answered.

"Well, she is tired. And she didn't seem to be injured. We'll just have to see when she wakes up." Another pause.  
"I know that's not what you want to hear, but it's all I can offer you right now."

"Right... I... I'll come back later."

"Of course."

She turned and left. Perhaps she could actually make herself useful today.

* * *

Lyra dreamed.

It was the night she had been asked to join the rebels. She laid on her bed and listened to the murmur of voices from the other side of the door. She'd had this dream a few times before, and so she waited for the night to play out. The door would open, Alexa would come in, she'd talk with her parents - though she wouldn't actually hear any of the words - and she'd leave. It was surreal to simply see everything, to not hear or feel anything distinctly. Like watching a silent film.

It seemed like it was taking longer than usual, though maybe that was just her. After all, it was a dream.

Then she turned her head.

She shouldn't have been able to do that. Everything just sort of ran - she didn't control it. And yet, she was looking around, moving herself. She could feel the sheets over her, the air cool - too cool - and now she was sitting up, and she heard the fabric rustle.  
But she couldn't hear the voices anymore.

This worried her more than anything, because now the dream wasn't working like it was supposed to. There was still a light shining through the crack under the door, but it didn't quite look like lamplight. Oranger, maybe. She stood up, feeling the rough carpet under her bare feet. She looked out the window and saw a full moon. Stepping closer for a better view, she saw a large tree where there should have been a row of houses, surrounded by a courtyard.

Wasn't that the courtyard at the base?

She glanced over her shoulder. Definitely her room. She fanned herself. It felt like she was standing right by a fireplace...

When she looked back outside, there were bodies.

Lyra stumbled backwards and fell. Why were there bodies? This made no sense. This wasn't how it was supposed to go... She wasn't supposed to cower in the corner...

Then the door caught on fire. A small tongue of flame, tasting the door, seeing if it was fit for consumption, then devouring it as it cracked and crumbled in a way that no fire should cause.  
The flame flickered, and the world seemed to hold its breath.

Then a blast knocked her backwards. She hit the wall, and debris fell on top of her, even though there was nothing to fall. When she opened her eyes, there were two figures in front of her and she was buried up to her waist in boxes and scrap wood in the corner of her room, as if the fiery monster in front of her was mocking her imagined security. Next to the beast stood him, his eyes glowing like the beast's, like the fire.

The monster released a ball of flame that engulfed her vision. The last thing she thought she - impossibly - saw was silver-eyed horror, and then she was immolated.

* * *

She didn't notice when she woke up. Consumed with panic, she jerked around, until she felt something cold jab into her arm.

_Cold?_

The contrast between the feeling and her mental surroundings made her pause, giving her the time to realize where she was. Even then, it took a few more moments of renewed but diluted panic to remember where she was and what had happened.  
She laid on the bed for a long time, trying to piece together the night's events. Eventually, she put together a good enough account, which she then spent even longer replaying, analyzing, remembering.

She hated herself. She had run, froze up, like some prey Pokémon. She should've died, and now here she was, taking up space with tiredness and self-loathing when she wasn't even injured! She should be helping, not lying here.

And so she abruptly sat up with intentions fueled by self-aimed anger.  
Her head pounded with rushing blood and her muscles and stomach ached, and when she inadvertently gasped, her lungs hurt like they were being filled.  
Okay, so maybe "not injured" wasn't exactly correct. She lifted her cold fingers to her temples and sat still for a few moments.  
She frowned. She was still relatively healthy, though. She should still be helping. So she turned herself, slower this time, and hung her legs off of the side of the bed. She dropped to the floor despite her best efforts to ease off, but she managed to keep her footing despite her somewhat weak-feeling legs. She spared a quick glance for the person in the other bed in the room.  
Then she looked again, and suddenly her legs seemed to fail her.

* * *

Silver walked tiredly towards his father's office. Though he'd had a late night, and had been permitted time to rest before he made his report, he hadn't slept at all. Of all the nights for him to get insomnia... He'd think he would at least have slept out of exhaustion...  
He walked a few paces past the door, forcing him to backtrack. At least there wasn't anyone around to see his blunder. They'd snap on anything they could misnomer as a sign of weakness.  
As he stood before the bright red door, images of flames seemed to appear in front of his eyes. He shook his head and knocked on the solid door. A second later, the doors slid open.

The office, as befitting of the leader of Team Rocket, was sumptuous. The furniture was made of the finest and rarest woods - rumors abound that some of it was even Trevenant wood. Which was true. Only the finest for his father's desk, after all. The chair behind that desk was fine leather, made from a Pokémon, he wasn't sure exactly what, bred specifically for that purpose. The grand windows were unblocked by their curtains, providing a view of the city they owned. His father also kept several things behind his seat - trophies in glass displays. Rare Pokémon specimens, fossils, Pokéballs.

Of course, Silver had seen it all before, and he really just wanted to get it over with so he could go back to bed and try to actually get some sleep. He stood in front of the desk, waiting for his father to make some time for his report.  
After a few minutes, Giovanni looked up from his sophisticated computer.

"So you here for your report, I take it."

"Yes."

Giovanni folded his hands together. "Well, then, report."

Silver took a slow, deep breath, collecting his words. Then he spoke.  
"We lost two grunts and five D-rank Pokémon. Enemy casualties are estimated at seven to nine dead humans and five or six Pokémon. We recovered about one thousand pounds in food supplies, though I believe this was an overburden and slowed down our progress back to base considerably."

Giovanni let that cruel smile he was so known for slide onto his face. "And the message?"

"I was unable to locate the leader themselves, but I did find their... office. I left the message there."

Giovanni nodded. "Good. You seem to have performed well. Perhaps I will assign you to lead more missions in the future. You may leave."

Silver stiffly bowed and left. He walked the short distance to his room and began to properly settle in for some sleep.  
He should be happy, he supposed. His father praised him, and he might actually get to do something instead of sit around.  
But his praise wasn't worth anything anyway, and that was really just another chance to be injured.  
Either he was being tested, or he had just become more expendable.

* * *

**/shoves chapter at you/**  
**/shuffles away/**

**_There's a note..._**

**What's it been. 3 months? Yeah.**  
**If you're just now finding this story, then I suppose you can skip this AN and know that the next chapter will be delayed due to construction. Otherwise...**

**I figure I owe you an explanation. See, I didn't go into this intending to make a long-running series. It was gonna be maybe a few chapters. But then I realized that I couldn't do what wanted in that amount of time. And then it took a couple more chapters for me to realize that I didn't have much of a direction. A few "checkpoints", if you will, but not much. And that's something I need to fix. **  
**I wrote this chapter in four days - and that wasn't even spending the entire night writing.**  
**How many could I have written if I had a direction?**

**So, to that end, I'm gonna write out some of the ideas I had and see what I need to do in order to get there. Don't know how long it's gonna take, or exactly how many chapters are gonna get written, but I'm shooting for a month at the longest - and hopefully it'll be a month worth waiting for this time.**

**_At the very least, I learned some things about me, writing, and priorities._**

* * *

_And then the day before I was originally gonna post this chapter (along with my little AN there), I got sick, thus delaying the chapter even further, much to my chagrin. _"OTL


	6. Seeing Through the Storm

Lyra stared at the person lying in front of her. Propping herself up on the bed she was residing in only a few moments ago, she vainly tried to convince herself that what she was seeing wasn't what she thought, that the quietly sleeping figure wasn't who she thought it was. But there was no mistaking her light purple hair.

Shakily, Lyra walked over. Alexa remained unconscious, unaware of Lyra's presence or of the shock she had caused her. Her distinct hair sprawled over the pillow. She was still wearing the shirt Lyra had last seen her in – a fitted burgundy shirt with cap sleeves. Her lower half was covered by a dark brown blanket.

Alexa seemed to be in fairly good condition. Her arms had sustained some burns, and there was a cut on her face, but she wasn't bleeding. Despite that, something still felt wrong to Lyra as she looked over her mentor. Like something was missing.

Alexa was the last person Lyra had expected to see here. She was so strong and knowledgeable – the mere possibility of her getting injured badly enough to put her in the infirmary hadn't even crossed Lyra's mind. It had just seemed impossible.

A sick feeling settled in the bottom of Lyra's stomach. If Alexa had gotten hurt like this... What was _she_ doing here? She was nowhere near as good at anything as her. Seeing Alexa lying there made Lyra feel insignificant, thrown around by some invisible force just to see where she would land. The thought that she was up and relatively unscathed while her teacher was bedridden made Lyra realize how lucky she'd been – and made her wish that luck had nothing to do with it.

Footsteps startled Lyra, causing her to turn violently to the right, wincing as seemingly all the muscles in her body protested. However, the steps only belonged to the nurse. John?

"Ah... You're up. I didn't mean to startle you." He quickly glanced at Alexa before shifting his gaze back to Lyra. "How are you feeling?"

Lyra looked back to Alexa for a moment before answering.

"I'm... sore all over... And it hurts if I breathe too deep..." John nodded at her words.

"I expected something like that, from what Brenna told me. That should go away in a few days. Just make sure not to overwork yourself, alright?" He waited for Lyra to nod before continuing. "Anything else?"

Lyra gazed at the ground. Then she asked, quietly, "...Will she be okay?"

John seemed confused for a moment before realizing that Lyra was referring to the woman she had shared the room with. He mustered up a kind smile.

"Yeah, she'll be fine. You don't need to worry about her." His eyes flickered to the woman once more. He turned to look behind him, then told Lyra, "Brenna was here when I came back. Why don't you come with me and we can see if she's still here?" Lyra nodded. He stared at her for a moment, then, sparing one final glance for the woman, turned and began to make his way towards the infirmary's entrance, hiding a frown.

A minute or so later brought John and Lyra back to the entrance, where they found Brenna standing and staring off into space. She turned her head towards the two as they entered the room which functioned as a lobby and waiting room. Her expression brightened when she saw Lyra, though it quickly became somber again as she noticed Lyra's desolate mood. Despite this, she put on a small smile.

"I'm glad to see you're alright, Lyra. Did you sleep well?" Lyra looked up at the woman and nodded, slightly comforted by the genuine kindness in her eyes. Brenna waited for a moment, but receiving no further answer, she looked to John.

"She seems alright," John assured her. "A bit sore, and she has some symptoms of smoke inhalation, but she'll be fine in a few days. If she wants," he looked to Lyra, "she can probably stay in her own room now."

"That's probably a good idea," replied Brenna, returning her gaze to the still-quiet girl. "I'll take her back now, since I'm on break." When Lyra gave no response, she asked her, "Is that okay with you, Lyra?"

The chestnut-haired girl looked briefly over her shoulder, back down the corridor she had come from, before nodding to Brenna.

"Alright then. Come on." Brenna gently placed her hand on Lyra's shoulder and steered her towards the exit. She looked back at John. "I'll bring her back if anything happens." He simply nodded in response.

* * *

Brenna was glad that they had managed to clean up the courtyard. She didn't want a repeat of yesterday. Lyra seemed much as she had been yesterday, so she imagined the poor girl would have had much the same response. She did seem a bit better today, though. More... focused. A frown occupied her face instead of a blank expression – both a blessing and a curse, since she was showing emotion, albeit a negative one. Was it worry? She couldn't blame her.

As they stepped inside once more, the sudden change in lighting made it hard to see, so Brenna focused on guiding Lyra rather than analyzing her bearing. They descended down one flight of stairs to the common area, then down another to the rooms. As they stepped onto the second basement floor, however, it struck Brenna that she didn't know which room was Lyra's.

"Lyra..." The girl looked up. "Which room is yours?" Lyra pointed a bit further down the hall, to a room on the left.

_...Oh._

"Uh, Lyra..." Brenna glanced at the girl and found her looking up expectantly. "They're using that room..." _Please don't ask for what._

"Because I wasn't here." Brenna was pleasantly surprised to hear Lyra talking. It was the first she had said today, as far as Brenna knew.

"Right," she answered with a sad smile. _But where will she sleep, then? I don't really want to take her back to the infirmary... _She stood for a moment staring up at the ceiling, lost in thought, before happening upon an idea.

"Maybe you can stay with me. I'll have to ask, though." Which brought her to another problem. Should she take Lyra with her? She wasn't sure if she had met the Leader yet, and she could be overbearing at times. Not to mention the kinds of things that might be floating around the center of command. But she didn't want to leave Lyra alone, either.

Ah, of course.

"Will you be fine if I drop you off with Mitchell until I find out what's going on?" Lyra stared at her for a moment, blinking, before a look of realization came to her face and she nodded. "Alright then. Let's go. The sooner we find all this out, the sooner you can get settled."

They walked further down the hall and then down another flight of stairs, though this one was much shorter than the others. There wasn't much on this floor – mostly rooms containing machinery. They walked past two such rooms before coming to the room where the two codebreakers worked. Brenna tapped out a short pattern – tap, pause, tap-tap – before opening the door. Mitchell didn't even look up as they entered the half-lit room.

Brenna led Lyra over to the couch. After she sat down, Brenna quietly told her, "I'll be back, alright?" She gave Lyra a small smile, then left.

A few minutes passed, during which Lyra simply sat on the dark red couch and stared into the distance. Her mind was occupied with a swirl of different thoughts, mostly about Alexa, but also about what they were using her room for, how nice Brenna was being, and many other topics which all bled together into a soup, which was generally not useful in any way.

A creak sounded, echoing through the silence. Though the sound registered with Lyra, she elected to ignore it, though that only lasted until she had the odd sensation of being watched.

The watcher, of course, was Mitchell, who had turned around to perhaps stand up and stretch for a few brief moments only to find the girl that he had remembered as pigtailed and much happier.

After they had stared at each other for a brief period, Mitchell elected to try and talk to Lyra.

"Did Brenna bring you down here?"

A nod. She looked away. He frowned.

"Are you alright?"

This was answered with an odd movement, neither nod nor shake. He interpreted it as an indefinite answer.

"You don't want to talk about it."

Shake. He'd expected as much.

"Can you tell me where Brenna went?"

"...They're using my room. So she went to see if I could stay with her."

"Ah. So she dropped you off here."

"I guess," was her answer, accompanied by a tiny shrug. She still hadn't looked back up.

He wondered why she hadn't just taken her with her. He supposed she had her reasons.

Mitchell stretched, causing some of his joints to crack. He really needed to get up and move... But someone had to be doing the codes. They should both be down here, really. Due to the attack, messages out for supplies and status updates were being sent en masse.

"Tell Brenna she needs to come take over for me, all right?" Lyra finally looked up at him, looking exhausted, but she gave no confirmation. Mitchell hadn't waited for one, however, and had already turned around and resumed working, quickly getting back into the familiar rhythm of translating messages into code.

Silence reigned over the half-dark room for nearly half an hour, each of its residents engrossed in their own thoughts. Finally, Brenna came back, creaking the door open to find everything as she had left it. With a quick glance to Mitchell, who remained unperturbed by her interruptions, she walked over to Lyra and sat down next to her.

"They said you could stay with me for the time being, since they're using your room. She said they'll try to work something out as soon as possible, though." Lyra gave her a small nod. After a moment of waiting, she cautiously reached out and touched Lyra's shoulder, causing her to look up.

"C'mon, let's get you situated." Brenna stood, and Lyra followed her out, only pausing to look back at Mitchell, still focused on his work.

* * *

While Lyra's room was near the stairs to the first basement floor, Brenna's was quite a few turns beyond that. This meant it was closer to the room where she worked, however. It was also a bit larger than Lyra's – just large enough that they were able to pile several blankets on the floor to make a layer thick enough to keep Lyra from being too uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry this is all I can do," said Brenna. "I'm afraid it won't be the most comfortable thing ever..."

"It's all right," Lyra responded softly. She was just glad Brenna was willing to share her room with her. She sat down on the mound of fabric and curled up.

"...Well, if you're alright, then I have to go help out." Lyra closed her eyes guiltily. Everyone else was out helping, and she was just sitting here moping... A sharpness to her breathing reminded her that her resting was not without its own purpose, though.

Brenna turned and opened the door. Just as she was about to step out, Lyra spoke.

"Brenna..." The redhead stopped and looked over her shoulder at Lyra.

"Yes?"

Lyra shifted her gaze up to the codebreaker.

"...Mitchell said you needed to go take over for him."

After a moment, Brenna smiled.

"Alright."


	7. Alexa

Lyra woke up to the sound of shuffling and fabrics rustling against each other. Blearily, she opened her eyes, slowly becoming aware of her strange surroundings and stiff back. Looking around, she saw Brenna covering herself with a blanket. The sight of the code-breaker brought the memories of yesterday back to Lyra's mind.

She was staying in Brenna's room for now. Right.

Lyra sat up, stretching and turning to try and make her back feel better, alerting Brenna.

"Oh," she said, yawning, "you're awake. I was just about to go to bed myself... How are you feeling?"

"Stiff," answered Lyra. She took an experimental breath, which was met with a pain deep in her lungs that made her wince. "Still can't breathe too deep... But I feel better otherwise..."

"You seem better." Though she decided not to comment on it, Brenna thought that Lyra already seemed quite a bit better than she had – a lot more like her normal self. She was infinitely glad for that.

"Do you need anything..." Another yawn. "...Before I go to sleep?"

Lyra thought for a second, but nothing came to mind, so she shook her head.

"Okay... You take care of yourself..." With that, Brenna turned onto her side. Within a few minutes, she was asleep.

_She must've been up a long time,_ though Lyra. She looked idly around, not thinking of anything in particular. Eventually, however, a certain thought made its way into her mind, causing her to sit upright.

"I should go visit Alexa," she said to herself. With a goal now in mind, she stood up, shaking off the blankets wrapped around her ankles. She was wearing the same clothes as she had been since – _that. _Her stomach turned, but she quickly shook her head, turning her mind to the thought that she should ask Brenna about clothes – later, of course. She didn't want to wake her up.

Soreness began to set in as she made her way to the infirmary. Once she had gotten outside, she stopped to rub her legs. As she stood to the right of the doorway, she looked around. There were some gouges and scorch marks on the trees in the center of the courtyard, but they were relatively unscathed – the same applied to the buildings, for the most part. There were a couple of holes, and one wall had been completely knocked down; a group of rebels were hard at work repairing it. People traveled back and forth, carrying boxes or pieces of paper.

Her muscles slightly less sore, Lyra continued on towards the infirmary. About halfway there, however, she was stopped by a dark-skinned man with a rough beard.

"Could you help me carry this?" He was carrying three boxes stacked on top of each other. "I can hardly see where I'm going."

"Um... Yeah," said Lyra. "Which one do you want me to carry?"

"Just this top one will be fine." He bent his knees slightly to allow Lyra to grab the box. It was slightly heavier than she expected, though, causing her to let out a small "oof". She followed the man towards a building on the other side of the trees, but as they walked, she began to feel slightly weak. The feeling only got worse as she went, and the second she was able to set the box down, she sat heavily on the ground.

"You all right? You don't look so good," asked the man.

"I don't feel so good either..."

"Do you need something? A drink? Sleep?" he asked, bending down.

Lyra shook her head. "I just woke up... Maybe some water..." Suddenly, she opened her eyes. "Ah, crap. That's probably it..."

"What?"

"I haven't eaten in a while..." _About three days, I think... I was sleeping for most of it, but still..._

"Ah, well, hang on, I'll go get you something."

Lyra looked up. "You don't need to do that..."

"You're one of us, aren't you?" He stood up. "I'll be right back."

True to his word, the man came back in just a few minutes with some water and Sitrus berries. He sat a few feet away from Lyra as she ate, going through the boxes and putting some of their contents into piles on the ground. It didn't take her long to finish, and she stood and thanked the man after doing so. As she walked away, though, she started to cough. It was brief, just the result of a barely too-deep breath, but she imagined it must have sounded pretty bad.

"Are you sure you're alright? Should you be working?"

Lyra cleared her throat before answering. "I wasn't, actually. I was just going to the infirmary." Seeing a look of alarm cross the man's face, she quickly added, "Not because I need it! I was just going to visit someone."

"Well still. Now I feel bad."

"It's all right. I'm glad I could help! And it's probably a good thing, since I'd kinda forgotten about eating..." she added sheepishly.

"If you're sure, then. Sorry to pull you away. You should get back to what you were doing."

"Okay. Thanks for the food!" She then turned once more and walked to the infirmary, this time without any interruptions.

She poked her head inside the door, but nobody was there, so she sat down on one of the chairs to wait. Nobody came for quite a while, so she turned the same thoughts which had plagued her since the attack over in her head. When John did finally come out, he found her sitting tensely, staring straight ahead, hands clasping the side of her chair until her knuckles were white.

Softly, he said her name, causing her to look up in a surprised manner.

"...Is something wrong, Lyra?" Finding her back in the infirmary so soon was concerning, not even taking the way he found her into account.

"...No," Lyra said, shaking her head. "I just came to visit Alexa, if I'm allowed to."

"Ah." The girl's previous behavior made more sense now. She knew the woman. She must have been concerned for her well-being. "Yes, you're allowed to see her, though I don't know if she'll be up." Lyra nodded and stood, and they walked down the right hall.

"I didn't realize you knew her," said John after a few moments of silence. "May I ask how?"

"She's my mentor. She's been helping me out a lot, teaching me about everything. She's really nice to me..." Lyra looked down, seemingly beyond the floor.

John said nothing more. Seeing Alexa would be the best assurance.

Less than a minute later, they were in the room Alexa was staying in. Lyra couldn't help but glance at the bed she had occupied only yesterday. There was nobody in it, much to her relief – just neatly folded sheets. It was as if she hadn't been there at all.

"Lyra?" A voice rang out in the room, and Lyra's gaze snapped to her mentor, awake, alive, and seemingly in fairly good condition.

"Alexa!" Lyra trotted over to side of the bed, her hands landing on the hard frame. "You're awake!"

As Alexa smiled and exchanged greetings and assurances with the girl, John watched on, a small, tired smile on his face. Lyra was feeling better – that was good. He thought he was starting to get a glimpse of the girl she should be, and she seemed to be the type of person that brightened other people's lives. They needed someone like that around. And Alexa being awake was good as well. She'd woken up briefly the day before, but she seemed much more alert now. He decided to leave them to talk, though not before pulling in a chair from one of the near rooms and telling the two to call him if they needed anything.

There were a few seconds of silence after he left, until Lyra finally asked Alexa how she was feeling.

"Pretty alright, considering the circumstances. I'm a bit sore though... and my leg hurts pretty badly," she answered, tapping on her right thigh under the blankets. "John says I've got a lot of burns." Lyra's eyes traveled across Alexa's face before she met her eyes once more and nodded. Alexa quickly smiled and reached out to put a hand on Lyra's shoulder. "But what about you? You're up and about, which is better than me!"

Lyra gave her a small smile and rubbed the back of her neck. "I'm sore too, and it hurts if I breathe too deep. Smoke inhalation, I think. But I managed to not get hurt too badly..."

Alexa frowned in confusion. "Smoke inhalation? How did that happen?"

"Um..." Lyra turned and pulled over the chair, sitting down heavily. She now had a frown on her face as well. "I got chased by someone who had this huge fiery Pokémon..." Alexa's eyes widened in recognition, but Lyra, looking down, didn't notice and kept talking. "He cornered me in this room downstairs that was full of junk... and then he set it on fire..." Lyra had tensed up again.

"Did this person... happen to have red hair? Bright red, like..." The first thing that came to Alexa's mind was blood, but she didn't think that would be the best thing to say, so she trailed off, searching for another word. Lyra understood what she was trying to say anyway and nodded.

"Yeah. Bright red hair and silver eyes..." Lyra continued to stare downwards. Something told Alex she didn't need to ask if Lyra knew who he was.

"I ran into him near the Leader's office," Alexa explained. "I tried to stop him, but..." Alexa sighed. "There was no way I could've. He looked so angry." Lyra looked up at her with wide eyes, causing her to hesitate for a moment before continuing. "Almost like he was... angry at himself, more than anything..." Alexa shook her head. "But I'm probably just making things up."

Lyra looked at the floor.

Alexa wasn't making it up, she was sure. She had been watching him when she had been so sure those were her final moments. She had seen his expression go from cold and assured to fearful and confused in a split second as his eyes widened and he stared at her with something akin to horror. She had looked on as he squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head, jaw clenched, like he was trying to shake something away – maybe the confusion in his metallic eyes as he had turned away.

She didn't know what she had done, but she was sure that she had somehow made him angry like that.

"Lyra...?" Alexa could see her blaming herself, which puzzled her as much as it worried her. Surely she knew that his actions had nothing to do with her?

Unless something else had happened that she wasn't saying...

Alexa saying her name snapped Lyra out of her thoughts. She looked up briefly, then shook her head.

"It's nothing."

"Are you sure?"

Lyra nodded. "Nothing to worry about."

Alexa opened her mouth to say that she highly doubted that, but all that came out was a yawn. When she had recovered, Lyra had a smile on her face, but it was sad.

"I should let you get some rest. I'm sure you're exhausted."

She was right, but Alexa still wanted to try and get her to say what else had happened between her and the boy. She opened her mouth to protest again, but Lyra cut her off.

"And don't tell me you don't need it. I've been there already. You need to rest." The look on Lyra's face told Alexa that the conversation was over.

Maybe there were some things she shouldn't push on... Though she didn't have to like it. Alexa sighed.

"Alright. But you come back and visit again, alright?"

Lyra nodded, her smile more genuine now. "Of course."

-**Δ**-

Lyra continued to visit Alexa over the next several days. Lyra's condition steadily improved, and by her fifth day up and about, he had recovered enough to start helping around the base. Mostly, she was tasked with transporting boxes and other light materials, as well as delivering messages, often to the codebreakers or the infirmary, since she tended to be around those areas a lot. This gave her a bit less time to visit Alexa, but she was ultimately glad that she was able to actually help out. Those days of doing nothing had made her feel like nothing more than a burden.

A week after the attack, Lyra was tasked with delivering a message to the infirmary. When she got there, it was not John, but the other nurse (actually a doctor, she had been told) who was on duty. Quickly passing on the message, Lyra decided to head back and visit Alexa, since she was there. By this point, the two working in the infirmary had gotten used to Lyra being there, and so no objections were raised as Lyra walked deeper into the infirmary.

Lyra and Alexa exchanged their typical greetings when Lyra walked into the room, along with the obligatory questions about each others' health. Then Alexa asked if anything new had happened.

"Not really," Lyra answered. "We're still repairing things and getting them back to normal." After a moment's pause, she added, "They still haven't given me my room back yet."

"Really?"

"Yeah. And every time I've tried to ask about it, there's always been something else that needs taken care of..." Lyra sighed. "It'd be nice to not have to share with Brenna. She's really nice for sharing, but there's not much room in there."

"I'm sure you'll get it back eventually. Just be patient."

Lyra nodded.

"Anyway," Alexa continued, "has your training started back up yet?"

"No. Like I said, still fixing things. But I think we're pretty much done now."

"Well, that's good," Alexa said, shifting in her bed. "It's good to see everything running pretty smoothly." She chuckled. "You should've seen us back when we first formed. It was a mess." Her expression grew serious again. "It's a miracle that we survived, really." Lyra looked up at her with a curious expression.

"Really?"

"Yeah, we didn't have any real leadership back then. It was just a few young adults like me who started gathering every so often. Nothing was near as organized as it is now." She looked down at Lyra. "You want me to tell you about it?"

Lyra nodded eagerly. "Yeah."

Alexa smiled at her eagerness. "Alright."

"At first, it was just a few people, like I said. They met every once in a while, but not a lot got done. They were mostly just forming ideas then. I wasn't actually there then – I came a bit later, after word started getting out. And then suddenly there were all these people who wanted to do something. It was... scary. And there was always this fear that we'd be found out, that everything would fall apart. But somehow, disorganized as we were, we managed to pull off an attack." Alexa shook her head. "A lot of things happened that could have been avoided. Too many people died for what we did. But then we knew that we could do something." Alexa turned her gaze to the wall, a far-off look in her eyes.

"And then Leader came along. She had experience in running organizations and dealing with Team Rocket. In fact, she was one of their most wanted. Still is." A small smile appeared on Alexa's face. "She made us into what we are today. She organized us, found out what we were good at, looked at everything and gave us roles and figured out what we could do. She's the best thing that ever happened to us." Alexa looked to Lyra once more. "Have you met her yet?"

"No, though I hear people talk about her a lot."

"Ah. I hope you get to meet her soon. She's the one who decided to bring you in and make you a battler after I told her about your connection with that Pidgeot. She could tell you a lot about battling -she's pretty amazing at it. She's been very kind to me."

Lyra opened her mouth to say that she really wanted to meet the Leader now, but Alexa winced before she could do so, her hand flying to her knee and a hiss escaping her mouth. Lyra shrank back in surprise before reaching forward in concern.

"Are you alright!?"

It took Alexa a moment to collect herself enough to answer.

"Ah... Yeah... I'll be alright..."

"Do- Do you want me to look at it for you?"

Alexa looked over to Lyra, her hands still lying over her leg. "Are you sure that's a good idea? I don't know how it looks..." Alexa let out another hiss of pain, her fingers digging into her leg.

"It's really hurting you... I think I should..." As she reached forward to lift the blanket covering Alexa's leg, she said, "If it looks bad, then I can tell Aina and she can come take care of it." The matter settled in Lyra's mind, she stood up and peeled back the blanket.

It took her several seconds to process what she was seeing.

At first, she thought she was simply not seeing things correctly, and so she blinked several times, trying to fix whatever was wrong with her vision. But what she saw didn't change.

There was no leg.

When Lyra stared and didn't say anything, Alexa attempted to look at her leg as well. A glance at where her leg should have been was enough to remind her of what had happened.

"...Oh. Right. ...It's easy to forget... since it still hurts." Her voice snapped Lyra out of her trance, who then looked to Alexa, her face full of bewilderment.

"I'm sorry. I should have remembered to tell you." Alexa leaned forward and replaced the blanket. "That Typhlosion took my leg off..." Another glance at Lyra revealed her to be standing and staring at her with some mixture of shock and horror.

"Lyra." The girl snapped back to attention once more. "It's alright. It's just a phantom pain. There's nothing you can do about it. And it's not that bad, really." A bold-faced lie, but Lyra needed it.

She tried to speak, but Alexa cut her off.

"I'll be fine, Lyra." After a pause, she placed her hand on her student's shoulder, ignoring the new pain flaring up. "Why don't you go help everyone else? The sooner things get back to normal, the sooner you can get back to training. And then we can talk more about how things used to be around here, okay?"

Lyra met her eyes, then slowly nodded.

"O... Okay."

Then, in a daze, she turned and walked out.

After watching her leave, Alexa leaned back with a sigh, finally allowing herself to grimace a bit with the pain.

How stupid of her to forget such a thing. It wasn't as if the poor girl needed it.

-**Δ**-

Lyra's training started again the next day. Instead of just one person teaching her, many of the rebels chipped in, teaching her in each of their areas of expertise, though Lyra noticed there was a slant towards battling – not just the fighting itself, but its history as well. She enjoyed going back to the routine she had before the attack. It made things seem normal.

In addition to her training, Lyra continued to help out around the base, particularly with Brenna and Mitchell, who had taken up much the same role Alexa had – mentor, but also people who would occasionally check in on Lyra, and who were generally there if she had questions or worries.

Overall, Lyra was busy, even more so than before. She still tried to make time to visit Alexa every day, but sometimes it just wasn't possible.

Almost a week after the start of her training, Lyra made her way to Alexa's room. She hadn't visited her in a couple of days, which made her feel a bit guilty. And the last time she had went, it had been cut short because Alexa had to do some exercises. They were to help her regain her strength before she went back to normal life – or as normal as it could get. She'd been bedridden for a while.

When she got there, Alexa was lying on her back, eyes closed. Lyra stood there for a moment, looking at the slight frown on her face. Then she turned to leave. She wasn't about to wake Alexa up.

"Ah, Lyra..." Her voice stopped Lyra in her tracks.

"Did I wake you up?" she asked, turning around. "I'm sorry."

"No, I was just resting a bit." Alexa yawned, and Lyra noticed dark circles under her eyes.

"You look tired..."

"Hm? I didn't sleep well last night. My leg was hurting really badly."

"Oh. Should I leave? You need your rest."

"No, it's alright. I wanted to talk with you anyways."

Lyra walked over, pulling up a chair.

"Yeah, I haven't visited in a couple of days... Sorry about that." Alexa smiled at her.

"It's fine! You're busier now. It's only natural."

"So, what did you want to talk about?" asked Lyra, sitting down.

Alexa tilted her head, thinking for a moment.

"Do you think you have a purpose for being here?"

The question caught Lyra slightly off-guard. It was a bit odd of a question, to be sure. Nevertheless, she took a bit of time to think before finally answering, "I think I'm just meant to help take down Team Rocket." Lyra shrugged. "Why?" She looked up at Alexa, only to find her giving her a strange look.

"...No real reason, I guess." Alexa looked away. "Just curious, really."

"Do you have a purpose?"

Alexa chuckled.

"Not really. Same as you, I guess." After a moment of silence, she asked another question. "What about your loyalties?"

"Huh? My loyalty? ...Well, with the rebels, of course. And my parents." Lyra glanced up at Alexa. She was giving her that strange look again.

There were a few seconds of silence as Alexa apparently waited for Lyra to finish.

"It's good that you know that. Remember your loyalties. If they're as strong as I think yours are, they'll help you a lot in life." Alexa sighed and close her eyes, leaving Lyra to mull over her words. After a few seconds, though, she decided to simply keep the words in her mind. If there was a meaning, it'd come eventually, right?

Lyra glanced at Alexa. She looked tired. She should probably let her rest. Lyra stood and pulled the chair back to where she had found it, causing Alexa to open her eyes.

"Are you leaving?"

"Yeah. You need rest." The silence that fell on the heels of her words felt a bit awkward. She couldn't help but feel as if there was something unfinished about it all.

"I don't suppose I'll be able to be your mentor anymore."

"What? Why not?"

"What use would I be with only one leg?" A sad, almost bitter smile appeared on Alexa's face.

Lyra frowned.

"You've taught me so much! You don't need two legs for that. You don't need any!"

Alexa laughed. "I suppose that's true." The sad smile quickly returned, however. "But there's only so much I can teach you. I don't know much more than you, to tell the truth." She looked up at Lyra. "How old are you again?"

"Eighteen."

"I'm only five years older than you, you know that?"

"Really?" Alexa seemed so much older than her, so mature and knowledgeable... Lyra shook her head. "There's no way I know near as much as you."

"Maybe not in things like battling, I guess, but you do where it matters. ...I mean, battling and stuff is important too, but it doesn't really mean anything without things like a purpose and loyalty." Alexa seemed to debate whether to continue for a moment, but then she took a deep breath.

"I only found out that stuff after the takeover. I was a pretty decent Trainer before, taking the League Challenge. But I didn't know any of those things, so... It didn't really mean anything. I just had shiny trinkets. It wasn't until Team Rocket took over and I lost my Pokémon to them that I realized that, though. ...And it was too late then. But Whitney was really kind to me, even though I hadn't been that way to her... She was kind of like a mentor to me." Alexa looked up at Lyra with a sigh, and she could only stare back.

Finally, she choked out a question, though she inwardly cringed the second it came out of her mouth.

"What Pokémon did you have?"

Alexa looked surprised, but she answered the question nonetheless.

"My partner was a Togekiss. I loved her so much..." A smile, genuine this time, spread across her face, and her gaze turned distant. "And I also had a Sandslash and a Horsea." For a few moments, she simply stared beyond her dark blanket and small room, reliving a time past.

Eventually, she looked back up at Lyra.

"I really enjoyed being your mentor, Lyra."

Then she closed her eyes and turned her head down again.

Lyra bent down and hugged Alexa.

"And I really enjoyed learning from you, Alexa." She felt her return the hug. "But I'm sure you still have a lot to teach me," she continued, smiling.

"Hopefully."

-**Δ**-

Lyra had really wanted to see Alexa again after their last conversation, but she was just too busy. Training took a lot out of her. She finally managed to get some time to do so a few days after their conversation, after she had just had a particularly educational session about fighting. As she made her way to the infirmary, slightly sore, she hummed to herself, thinking about what to talk to her about. She'd have to tell her what she had learned in the past few days, of course, and she really wanted to tell her about the rogue Sentret – that had been _interesting_, to say the least. And she wanted to talk more about things like in their last conversation, too.

As she walked into the building, still humming, she saw John, his back turned to her.

"Oh, hey, John!" she said with a wave.

"Oh, Lyra..." He turned around quickly and stepped towards Lyra, startling her. He looked incredibly weary, enough to make Lyra stop.

"Are you alright?" she asked, tilting her head slightly. However, he only answered her question with one of her own.

"You... were going to see Alexa... right?"

There was something in his voice, quiet and tremulous, something that seemed like it would collapse with the slightest breath of wind.

Lyra finally turned fully towards him, her eyes widening as a cold, heavy feeling crawled up into her chest.

"Did something happen?"

**-Ω-**


End file.
